On Thursday, December 18, 2014, the fourth grade headed to Mars to begin a new colony. Well, not really. But we did build models of what we thought our colonies might look like!
Our space unit centered around the driving question, "Could humans survive on another planet?" Each student picked a planet in our solar system to study, including poor Pluto, which is not considered to be a traditional "planet" any longer. After researching, we collaborated on presentations using Google Classroom. We compiled all of our research and realized no, we cannot survive on another planet.
However, scientists have been looking to eventually send humans to Mars. So, we talked about what would be necessary in order to build a colony there. We came up with 8 facilities the colony would need: Living Quarters, Health Maintenance, Energy Facility, Atmospheric Control, a Greenhouse, Waste Management, Water Management, and a Recreation Facility.
First, we build a model of the surface of Mars. Each team had a cardboard base. They glued construction paper to the base and then glued on coarse red sand to represent the surface of the Red Planet.
Next, each team planned how to build their models. We worked on earning Mars Money for the past month and teams used their earnings to buy materials to build their models. Each team then constructed their models and then wrote descriptions of each facility and its importance to the colony. It was a busy day!
Our space unit centered around the driving question, "Could humans survive on another planet?" Each student picked a planet in our solar system to study, including poor Pluto, which is not considered to be a traditional "planet" any longer. After researching, we collaborated on presentations using Google Classroom. We compiled all of our research and realized no, we cannot survive on another planet.
However, scientists have been looking to eventually send humans to Mars. So, we talked about what would be necessary in order to build a colony there. We came up with 8 facilities the colony would need: Living Quarters, Health Maintenance, Energy Facility, Atmospheric Control, a Greenhouse, Waste Management, Water Management, and a Recreation Facility.
First, we build a model of the surface of Mars. Each team had a cardboard base. They glued construction paper to the base and then glued on coarse red sand to represent the surface of the Red Planet.
Next, each team planned how to build their models. We worked on earning Mars Money for the past month and teams used their earnings to buy materials to build their models. Each team then constructed their models and then wrote descriptions of each facility and its importance to the colony. It was a busy day!